Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Eric Robinson announced on June 21, 2007, that the Province of Manitoba’s Hudson’s Bay Company archives, covering the company’s history from 1670 to 1920, have been added to the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Memory of the World Registry.

The historic records, which are housed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, trace the Hudson’s Bay Company from its beginnings, through the development of the North American Fur Trade, the exploration and settlement of Canada and the United States, and the growth of the company’s Canadian retail, wholesale, property, and natural resources businesses into the 20th Century.

“They form a unique record of the heritage of Canada’s west and north, and its people, including European traders and settlers, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. They provide insight into the beginnings of our province and nations, and the course of their development, and contribute to understanding our land as it is today.”

“The designation is a first for Canada and puts Manitoba on the heritage world stage. We have been proud stewards of the Hudson’s Bay Company archives since 1974 when they were first entrusted to our care.”

The archives have attracted international researchers including academics, genealogists, Aboriginal groups, students, lawyers, government researchers, and history buffs.

“This, along with the countless historians and researchers who use the collection every year, and their resulting works, enforces the spirit of our gift of these records to the Province of Manitoba, to ensure their preservation and access to a worldwide clientele, now and in the future.”

The archives of the Hudson’s Bay Company were transferred from London, England, to the Archives of Manitoba in 1974, Winnipeg’s Centennial year. The H.B.C. archives were first available for public scrutiny in 1975, and were formally donated to the Province of Manitoba archives in 1993.

A partnership between the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company History Foundation, and the Archives of Manitoba supports the preservation of the records of this unique historic company, and makes possible their continuing availability to local, national, and international students of history.

The UNESCO Memory of the World Registry identifies and lists the most significant documentary heritage collections in the world. The proposal submitted by Archives Manitoba was initially reviewed by an ad hoc committee comprised of experts established by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO before it was forwarded to the International Advisory Committee.

The Canadian committee chair, Jean-Pierre Wallot, was also the first chair of the International Advisory Committee, between 1993 and 1998, and is a former Canadian national archivist. Wallot said that he was pleased by the first additions from Manitoba, Quebec, and all of Canada to the UNESCO register.

“These inscriptions will rekindle the embers of the past, raise awareness of our multiple evolutions…with the peoples of Quebec and Canada, and nurture our search for and understanding of our identities, “ said Wallot.

The vision of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program is that the world’s documentary heritage belongs to everyone, and should be fully preserved and protected for all, and made permanently accessible without hindrance.

The Archives of Manitoba - Hudson’s Bay Company Archives website.

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